Saturday, December 22, 2007

We just returned from a delightful evening started off by a great time with my friend, Martin Whipple, and his family from Enid. Martin and I went to kindergarten together and then he & his wife, Linda, and I all went to high school together. After lunch, they went on to celebrate Christmas with his parents. We, on the other hand, we to to Muskogee to see National Treasure - Book of Secrets. It was a really fun movie.

It is a great family movie; there isn't anything too objectionable and nothing to worry about with your kids sitting next to you. There was lots of action, excitement, and, of course, it left it open so that there can be a National Treasure 3. We all agreed that it was as good, if not better, than the first National Treasure.

After the show, we went for a quick bite (fast food) then took a tour through Honor Heights Park to look at their hundreds of thousands of Christmas lights. It was truly spectacular. Something that we'll be doing for years to come.

We were just a tad sad, however, as we learned that it snowed while we were in the movie and we missed it. When we woke up this morning, it was 51 degrees. When we got home just now, it was 29. Welcome to the first day of winter!

Tuesday, December 18, 2007

Well, this certainly isn't the kind of electrical challenges we had when we lived in Africa, but it was a little scary, nonetheless! You don't like seeing your plugs iced over that much, but, at least they still worked and didn't burn down the house! Click on the picture to make it larger and look at how thick the ice was over the bulbs.

This is the table Sally set for our Christmas Open House last Saturday. I tried to take it where you could see it snowing, but you can't really see it through the window. She did a wonderful job of getting house ready for our guests and I think everyone had a great time.

Saturday, December 15, 2007

Well, we certainly missed the biggest part of this latest snowstorm! PTL! It started snowing at 11:30 this morning and is still snowing a little bit at 6:30 pm. Not a lot, but a little. It was a very pretty snow, but only a trace on the ground. The temps have plunged since this morning and my front steps were icy when I walked over to the church a few minutes ago.

We had an open-house/Christmas fellowship for our church today at our house. We have been leery of the weather, but we had a house full of people. It was a great success. The snow only kept a few folks away.

This morning, the kids were waiting for it to start snowing and were extremely impatient. They got busy doing other things and when I yelled out that it had started to snow, you'd have thought they won a million dollars! They pulled their coats on and ran out in the front yard and opened their mouths to catch snowflakes. This is the first snow they have seen in 5 years! They both only remember the snow we had when we were on furlough back in 2002 in Tulsa. It was an incredibly great snow then, but not so today. I think we were all a little disappointed that there would be no snowman! Maybe next time!

Friday, December 14, 2007

We heard from Sally's mom this morning. She called PSO and asked when they were going to get power back on. The lady said, "Well, most of Vinita has power". As they looked into it, only 85 homes are left without power and my in-laws and Sally's sister are two of the 85 houses! The PSO lady said that it should be on by Sunday evening.

A report on TV last night said that there are still over 260,000 people without power in Oklahoma. Just in time for the next snowstorm!

I've been out to Wal-Mart, which seems to be busier than normal because of people in areas without power coming to our Wal-Mart that has power. I went out last night to buy some gift boxes for wrapping, and was met at the door by an odd sight. All of the Christmas items in "action alley" had been moved back and was replaced by flashlights, chainsaws, oil lamps, oil, and small camp-size propane bottles. The clerk behind the jewlery counter said they had just moved them in, directly off the truck.

This morning, I went back out to pick up some tissue paper, that I forgot to buy last night. I noticed that half of the oil lamps were already sold (at 9 am!) and many of the batteries and flashlights were already gone. Only one chainsaw had been purchased so far. I went ahead and bought an oil lamp and a couple of bottle of oil, just in case.

As I was purusing around the store, I made it through the camping aisle. There was a bare spot on the shelves where they keep the camping lanterns. That was interesting! As I made my way over the the grocery section to get some stuff for our party tomorrow (fat chance since there is a big snow storm coming) I found a really cool invention. I had never seen it before, but can see how, especially in times like these where there are lots of folks without electricity, it would come in handy. It was cans of self-heating soup!

The can was a little taller than a pop can. Underneath, there was a pull top, like on green beans or tuna. The directions said that you were to turn the can over, pull off the protective cover, and push the button until all the green water drains into the hole. Turn the can back over and wait 5-8 minutes, until the little indicator spot turns color. Shake well and drink. It went on to say that it uses "quicklime" and never touches the food inside. What a cool idea! Great for camping, road trips, or power outages!

Tuesday, December 11, 2007

This morning, we woke up to dense fog, rain, and NO ICE, at least here in Wagoner. We made it through without losing electricity and only a few branches down in the yard.

A report this morning on local TV said that there are 500,000 customers without power across Oklahoma. They said this was the single largest power outage in our State's history!

My in-laws reported that they made it through the night OK. They lit the burners on their gas range every now and then and wrapped up in blankets. They said Wal-Mart was open this morning so they were going to high-tail it out there to try and find some supplies, as they may not have power until next week.

On the home front, Audrey is still sick. She woke up with 102 degrees this morning. We have an appointment to see the doctor at 2 pm today. 4 days on antibiotics and still running a fever just isn't right.

We have had two pretty good size limbs break off and fall in our yard. One of them hit the house right where the electrical service is located. We were fortunate that it didn't bust it all to pieces. While I was looking at it, another big one fell out of the walnut tree.

Since I went out this morning, the trees are whiter and the icicles are now about 6 inches long. As I drove to Sonic for lunch, I noticed that there are several big trees that are split and limbs all over the place. Fortunately, Wagoner hasn't lost power yet. PTL!

The weather, that is. We have had freezing rain all morning. The trees are bending noticeably more. The icicles that were about 2 inches long this morning are now about 5 inches long.

Interestingly enough, however, there is enough solar heat to warm up the windshields on the cars and they are beginning to melt a little bit. Well, at least I can can see water underneath the sheet of ice!

Hopefully, the temps will warm up a little, too, so that it won't be so bad for tonight.

Sally told me that the hospital in Vinita had communication for a couple of hours allowing her to work a little bit today. Be grateful for the little things, I guess!

Audrey told me she felt good enough to eat lunch today. I think I'll pop down to Sonic and bring her back a nice hot burger. Sounds good to me, too!

Wagoner missed the lion share of the ice storm. Wagoner Schools were open this morning. It took me nearly 20 minutes to clear the 1/4 inch of ice off the windows. I nearly killed myself going down the front steps. A little salt took care of that.

Audrey is feeling better this morning. Her fever was down to around 100 or so, so that is a lot better.

Sally's folks in Vinita lost electricity sometime during the night. PSO said probably sometime Wednesday to get it restored. The hospital has lost power and is on emergency generators and have lost their internet so Sally can't work today.

I am supposed to go to Muskogee this morning for the weekly Muskogee Baptist Assoc. weekly pastors' conference. I'm going to pass on it today.

Sunday, December 09, 2007

We had a HUGE DOWNPOUR just a little bit ago. It is really scary because it is about 30 degrees. We haven't had any thunder yet and all the power is still on in Wagoner, but we do have icicles hanging from the electric cables, eaves, and trees.

We decided that since Audrey is sick, if our power goes out, we'll have to go to a motel or something because it would be too dangerous otherwise. At last check, she was at 102 even.

A winter storm advisory is in effect for our area. We currently have freezing rain which is expected to continue for the next couple of days. My wife's sister in Vinita said that her power was off, but only on for an hour before going off again. She called PSO and they said "MAYBE" tomorrow around noon! At least my in-laws have power.

To be on the safe side, we cancelled services at church tonight. Most of our older folks would be the faithful ones to try and make it in, so I thought it would be best to not have services. Roads here in Wagoner aren't too slick yet, but it looks like it will get worse as the evening tears on.

We still have one sick kid in the house. Audrey has been extremely sick. Her fever was dangerously high last night and we gave her sponge baths to get it down. Today, it has been hovering around 102. She feels rotten. At least we got her some antibiotics to start working on her.

Some goober went into the Youth with a Mission Missionary Learning Center in Arvada, Colorado and killed two! Police don't know what the motive was or who the shooter was, but I know that this isn't a good thing.

I was sitting in my easy chair last night and prayed that if I hadn't actually lost my digital camera and merely misplaced it, that God would let me find it today. Well.... as I was putting on my "preacher suit", I felt something hit against my leg when I put my coat on. I stuck my hand down in the pocket and found my digital camera!!!!! The funny thing is, I had checked all of the pockets of all my suits a week ago and didn't find it then. Hmmmmm.

Wednesday, December 05, 2007

We've all gotten the email that offers us a percentage of millions of dollars from suchandsuch bank either in Nigeria, or Burkina Faso, or wherever.

I got an email from a guy in Hong Kong who is offering me 30% of $19,500,000.00 or $5,850,000.00. Not a bad deal if it wasn't both fraudulent and illegal!

The guy is supposed to be Li Le Song, who is a 22 year veteran Credit Officer for Hang Seng Bank in Hong Kong. Hang Seng is a reputable bank with a powerful presence in Hong Kong. This guy sent me what is supposed to be his bank ID and family picture, along with his address in Hong Kong.

After doing a little research, I found that this same scammer also uses the name Patrick Chan and he is supposed to be the CEO of Hang Seng. In the process of doing all of this, I found a really great site that lists many of these scammers and their letters, details, documents, etc.

Don't believe them when you get the letters in your email. There is no money going to be exchanged, except for what you send them. You'll get nothing.

Most likely, Li or Chan is a Nigerian living in HK posing as a Chinese Hongkonger.

Tuesday, December 04, 2007

Emily got really sick and had a 105.8 fever. She ran over 103 for three days. Turns out she has strep throat. She is feeling really lousy and had to miss Memaw's funeral. Sally couldn't get her in anywhere and had to take her to the emergency room for treatment.

Sally's computer had a "thermal episode" and shut down. It looks like it has shut down permanently. She makes her living as a medical transcriptionist using her computer and the internet. We broke down and bought her a brand new Dell, that should be here tomorrow.

This morning, Audrey woke up sick. She said she had a belly ache. Sally was able to get her in to see the doctor this morning. He administered a strep test, but she doesn't have it yet. He said her glands were swollen and she had a fever (low). He said that if she gets worse, all we have to do is call his office and he'll send a prescription in and we can go pick it up.

Monday, November 26, 2007

Well, for the very first time in my life, I've lost something valuable. It wasn't stolen (I think), and I didn't leave it somewhere (I think). I've lost my digital camera. :-(

I had it for sure about 10 days ago, but when Sally and I left for Branson last Thursday, I couldn't find it anywhere. I looked in the church van. I looked in my office. I looked at the Muskogee Baptist Center. I looked at my grandma's house. I've torn the house apart, but the sad fact remains: I've lost my camera.

I am really sad about it, too. It was a very nice Olympus 720 that Sally and the girls got me last Christmas in Hong Kong. It had about 20 pictures that I hadn't downloaded yet. It had a huge storage card in it. It was "weather resistant"; very handy for the likes of me.

We can't afford a new camera right now. I'm going to have to dig out my old Sony with the busted LCD screen. At least it has a view finder so I can take pics.

I am awfully excited about what I did yesterday. I got the Christmas lights on the house! There was a cold front moving in today, yesterday was just beautiful (despite the wind), so I took the afternoon and got the lights on all the windows and in the bushes. I still have a few to put up, like the icicles and the Nativity set, but I'm gonna wait until after Thanksgiving to do that.

Sally turned them on while I was out and when I came home they just looked beautiful. It is so exciting to be able to put lights on the roof and to do that WITHOUT using a transformer!

The only thing I am fairly disappointed about is the fact that I can't find any of the "blow-mold" candles that say "Noel". Wal-Mart only sells blow-mold Santas and inflatable stuff. I don't want Santas or inflatable stuff so I'll just have to keep looking. If anyone knows who is selling blow-mold candles this year, please let me know.

Here is a picture of some outdoor Noel Candles that we had on our last furlough in Tulsa:

Wednesday, November 14, 2007

I haven't been in much of a mood to blog this week. I guess it is the "blahblog". ;-)

Tomorrow, I'm driving a group of folks from the church to look at the fall foliage down around the Talimena drive. Hopefully, this cold front that came in today won't knock all the leaves off the trees.

Friday, November 09, 2007

8361 - That is the number of hot fudge sundaes you could buy at Braum's for what it costs to buy this one dessert at some fancy schmancy restaurant in New York City. $25,000 for a dessert! Give me a break! You can read about it here.

Wednesday, November 07, 2007

It was 27 degrees when I looked a the thermometer at 6:45 this morning! When I got home last night from the 95th Annual Muskogee Baptist Associtional Meeting, there was already frost on the top of the car. This morning, the frost covered the car, the windows, and the grass. Emily wanted to know what all that white stuff was!

I went to the Muskogee Air Show at Davis Field last Saturday (since there was no OU game). It was a really great time, except that I got sunburned. The weather was absolutely perfect and they had a fair turnout of attractions. They had about 15 WWII era planes which was pretty cool.

After our trip to Silver Dollar City where both kids ended up being sick, we took Audrey to the doctor on Monday and she was diagnosed with strep throat. She missed Monday and Tuesday, but since she didn't have any fever, she went to school Wednesday to turn in her projects and get her homework. I had her stay at home from church last night because I thought she needed the rest.

When she went to bed last night, she was coughing pretty bad. This morning at 2, she said she woke up pretty sick. She finally made it into our bedroom at 4:45 this morning burning up with 105 fever! Sally ran and got her some ibuprofen and I got some wet rags and began to try to get the fever down. Finally, after about 30 minutes, it was down to 102. We all eventually fell back to sleep.

When we got up this morning, her temperature was back to normal and she said she didn't hurt like she did last night. Sally called her doctor and he is considering prescribing a different antibiotic.

This morning, at 7:45, when Emily and I were getting in the car to go to school, I noticed that the heavy dew from last night had turned into solid ice on the back windshield and the roof of my car! My thermometer read 37, but obviously the surface of the car was colder than that.

I'm sitting in my office this morning and it is a crisp 61 degrees! We haven't lit the heaters in the church yet. This hot coffee sure feels good!

Tuesday, October 23, 2007

Boy! Am I glad I lit the heater last night. When I looked at my thermometer, it showed 39 degrees this morning!

The parsonage has one of those new fangled furnaces. It doesn't have a pilot light; it has electronic ignition. After two trips to Wal-Mart to get a new filter, I then had to figure out how to "light" the silly thing. All it has is a little (hard to see) ON-OFF switch!

Sunday, October 21, 2007

A little way from our motel, we found Billy Gail's Cafe. OH MY GOODNESS!!! They served the biggest pancakes I have ever seen in my life! Take a look at these bad mamas! They literally hung off the plates! It was so much fun and they were really good. It was definately a place that I would recommend and that we would return to. I'll probably even make a post on the Hungry Traveler about this one!

If you ever have the opportunity to go to Branson, make SURE you plan a visit to see Yakov Smirnoff! It was an incredibly funny and uplifting show. I think Yakov loves America more than most native born Americans! For tickets, call 1-800- WHAT A COUNTRY!

We had a fantastic time in Branson; we rode the Ducks! DUKW is a converted WWII amphibious vehicle. They have put in seats and other niceities and charge to take you on a tour of Branson and a little ride out in Table Rock Lake. The best part was when the captain "floored it" and drove like a lunatic into the water. It was really cool. This Duck pulled up right behind us as we were leaving a scenic overlook of the lake.

We returned home yesterday from a fun trip to Branson. Unfortunately, both kids are sick this morning. Emily was sick on Thursday, Audrey on Friday, both yesterday, and both again today. YIKES! Low grade fever and headache seem to the be course. Emily did get car sick yesterday coming through the Ozarks, but I don't know if it is related.

Phewwww! A real nail biter. Since we were traveling, we didn't come into "radio" until just before the 14 yard kick in the 4th quarter. We listened to it all the way home, then got home to see the last 2 minutes or so on the tube.

Tuesday, October 16, 2007

Yes, we are in the middle of a family crisis. The neighbors who abandoned our cat, Patches, have returned, claiming they never abandoned the cat and they want her back and want her back now. No amount of negotiation could remedy the situation, so now we have two VERY SAD little girls.

I told them that we would discuss our pet situation early next week. Until then, well, at least for tonight, we are a sad, sad household.

Wednesday, October 10, 2007

Yesterday morning, about 8:45, the moving van arrived carrying our treasures (and junk) from all over the world. The two delivery men were young. I shared the Gospel with one of them, after several extemporaneous comments about things made me realize it wasn't a mistake that he was working that day. He did not receive it well, but I think he heard it. So, pray for Isaac.

We had 111 pieces delivered to our house yesterday. We have started the unpacking process. For the first time in any of our world moves, we have casualties. So far, we have had one of our good china plates , a regular plate, our huge dinner platter, and a casserole dish broken into millions of tiny pieces. Oh, we also had two of our favorite souvineers from Dakar, Senegal, broken, too. They were paintings on glass, and the glass has been shattered. Sally said that she was waiting til this morning to open another box that she heard the tale-tell sound of broken glass. Hopefully, it is something that can be replaced.